Kings Announce Pre-Draft Workout With NCAA Champion Guard

The 2025 Florida Gators were filled with NBA-caliber players, with Walter Clayton Jr. rightfully taking up the majority of the headlines going into the draft. As great as Clayton Jr. was in the tournament and this past season, Florida wouldn’t have gotten the job done without their second-leading scorer, Alijah Martin. The Sacramento Kings seem to agree and announced that they’re bringing Martin in for a workout on Monday.

Kings announce prospect workout #4 for Monday: pic.twitter.com/hncNCKrVW1
— James Ham (@James_HamNBA) June 2, 2025

The Florida guard was measured at 6’1.5” without shoes at the combine and 208 pounds. While that isn’t exactly great height for a shooting guard, it was actually taller than players like Jamal Snead, Mike McBride, and Davion Mitchell, whom he will likely be compared to.

Alijah started his career with the Florida Atlantic Owls, and many will remember him from the FAU Final Four team that beat Memphis, Tennessee, and Kansas State before losing to San Diego State. Martin was the second leading scorer for FAU when they made their run in 2023 before transferring to Florida.

Alijah is also the only player ever to start for two different schools in the Final Four, a pretty cool claim to fame if you ask me.

While at Florida, Alijah started 36 out of a possible 38 games and was the definition of a two-way player. Martin averaged 14.4 points per game on 45% from the field and 35% from deep while averaging 1.5 steals per game on the other end. Martin’s energy was infectious, especially in the championship game, where his dunk with 5 minutes left fired the team up and made sure they came back with some hardware.

To all celebrating, Happy one month anniversary to Alijah Martin and the Dunk of the Year. pic.twitter.com/JVRsm8R5iw
— Florida Basketball Hour (@FloridaBBHour) May 5, 2025

Sacramento has had a wealth of talented guards over the last few years, but the Kings are missing some defensive tenacity on the perimeter. Malik Monk, Zach LaVine, and DeMar DeRozan are all incredibly skilled offensive players, but it would be a stretch to call them two-way players.

Keon Ellis is one of the best defensive guards in the league, but Keon and Devin Carter can’t be expected to be the only solid defensive guards on the team. Martin could provide some depth initially for times when Ellis or Carter get injured or into foul trouble while learning from the two defensive specialists in the process.

It’s challenging to make a name for yourself in the NBA as an undersized two guard, but the aforementioned McBride, Shead, and more have been able to use their other tools to be successful. Martin is an explosive athlete and has a decently long wingspan at 6’7.5” that should help him hold his own defensively.

Offensively, Martin does almost everything well. He’s a solid shooter, loves to get downhill, and is comfortable in the midrange. Perhaps the most important stat is that he shot 36.4% from three throughout his 5 seasons in the NCAA, that kind of consistency usually translates to the next level.

26 points on 13 shots for Alijah Martin in a heartbreaking Final Four loss. The chiseled 6'2 FAU sophomore showed off his scoring instincts and dynamic shot-making prowess all NCAA tournament long as well as his toughness and defensive versatility. pic.twitter.com/M3iHgaoXOM
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) April 2, 2023

Martin may not be any sort of savior for the Kings, but he’s a solid player who absolutely knows how to win, and Sacramento needs as many of those types of players as possible. There’s also always a chance Martin can develop into much more once he gets into the NBA, and after years of trading second-round picks for cash, it would be nice to see Sacramento take a shot on a proven winner like Alijah.

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